Occupant-propelled vehicle



Jam. 23, 1923a J. SWINLAND.

OCCUPANT PROPELLED VEHICLE. FILED'ocT. 3. 1,921.

Jams, 19251 1,443,153.

' J. SWINLAND.

'OCCUPANT PHOPELLED VEHICLE.

man ocT. 3. 1921. 2 sHEEls-.s'nm 2.

Patented leur 223 ltldl'lu RTOlIN SWNLAND, F DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

OCCUPANT-PROPELLED VEHICLE.

Application `filed` October 3, 1921. Serial No. 505,030.`

`olf Minnesota, have invented. certa-in new and useful lmproveinents in anccupant- Propelled Vehicle, of `which the following is aspeeilication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.l

This invention. relates to vehiclesI and has y .special rotore-nce to a hand propelled childs vehicle; the principal object bempg1 to provide a novel ilorm ot amusement deviceior children.

`Other objects and novel features of the device vvill appear in the :further description ct the invention. y 'y y y y Referringto the "accompanying drawing forming' part ol'this application in which like reference characters indicate like parts;

Figurel is a side elevation of one embodiment oli my vinvention showing` the two rear `Wheels of the vehicle as being" removed.

` Figure Qis a plan view of a completely assembled vehicle, y

` Figure is a ijagmental portion 03E `one oit the vehicles showing' a modified form of propelling` device,

"Figure l is a.

showing astill further modified form of propelling" device, .y

Fiffure 5 l.is a frao'mentalportion of the v:front axle ol? the vehicle shown` in Figure fl,

wat 6 to the center ot the square wooden rear axle mounted upon `the rear Wheels 89 jouriielled upon. screws 9 or other simple form of construction.

l have shown the Wheels 8. as being); provided' on their` innermost edges with a toothed or ratched rim l() in; which is co* operatively engaged the gravity paivl l1 pivotally mounted on one cornerot the axle `7, as at i2.

The forward ends ot the `:members 2 and View similar toFigul-g 1 3 are rigidly lixed to the liront azle 13 which is similar in shape to the rear axle 7, it being carried upon wheels 14 in all respects similar to the Wheels 8 and which vWheels la are provided With a like construction of pawl and ratchet to prevent their backward rotation, the pawl and ratchet of the rear Wheels also beingto prevent "their backward rotation. y

The members l, 2 and 3 ot the chassis trame are normally humped, that is their lower ends are drawn towards each other for the purpose ot elevating their pivotally united ends, forming a slightly obtuse angleintermed-iate of the members. Rigidly fastened to the outer sides olf the members 2 and 3 are the side members l5 Which eXn tend both forwardlyand rearwardly of the members 2 and 3, and are disposed substantially horizontally. y

Abovethe pivotal connection or apeX ot the hump 0l the chassis ismounted a suitable seat 16, the rear edge ol' which is supported upon the cross piece 17 resting on the rear extremity of the side bars 15, and the Jront edge resting uponthe cross piece l upon the inclined faces ofthemembers 2 and 5l, and a suitable floor or platform 19 fixed transverse the forwardly, projectlugI portions ol? thesidebars.

Centrally upon the iront edge of the platiorin 1 9 is pivotally hinged as:l at 20 the vertically disposed operating lever 2l, it being` also rotative within saidv hinged conw nection,` by the through supporting pin 8O within said lever andrestingupon the halt of the hinge through which the lever is loosely mounted. The loiver end of this lever carries a cross piece 22 just in front ot `the front wlieels 14h said leverbeing bilurcuted upon its lower end audcari'ying ,the piece E52 rigidly Vfixed Within said hiturcated portion. Adjacent the extreme ends. ot this cross piece are suitable eye hohem in which areattached cross rods le and i y which lead haclrivardljv and diagonally oi" the chassis to the ends oit the axle l Where they are similarly attached as at i261 thus formiugr` a steering; devicel for the rel'iicle7 it beingreinembered that the rear axle Tpivotally supports the rear end of the chassis as at 6. The upper end oil the lever 2l is provided With a hand cross barl which is gripped by the child in operatingthe vehicle, and ashe pulls the upper end of the lever back and forth it is evident that the rear axle, together with its wheels and rear portion of the chassis will be reciprocated back and forth, that is to say its relative backward motion will be brought about by the advance motion of the forward wheels caused by the gravitating effect of the childs' body on the vehicle, as the wheels are prevented from rotating backwardly at all times.

Openings 28 are shown in the forward corners of Vthe platform 19 as convenient footrests for the operator of the vehicle.

A child thus operating the vehicle will therefore-be given a forward as well as vertically reciprocal motion, somewhat like that ofhorsebaclr'riding, which has proven very attractive to children.

If desired the extreme ends of the cross bar 22 may be sufficiently extended as indicated at 29 so as -to be brought into engagement with the circumferential face of the forward wheels 14 and act as a brake therefor to control their rotation, as for example when coasting.

In the construction shown in 'Figure 4 li have modified the propelling mechanism as well as the steering of the vehicle, and, while the chassis, seat, and general frame structure is practically the'same, I will refery to the lunnped members as 30 and 31.,

Vthe side bars 32, theseat as 33, the pivotal connection of the humped members as 34, the pivotal connection of the operating lever as 35, and the lever itself as 36. New in this structure the forward members 3l are pivotally mounted as at 37 to the front axle 38, while the rearmost member of the chassis 30 is rigidly ffixed to the axle or bolster, as the shaft B9 in this instance is rotatable within the bolster and carries the rear wheels 40 rigidly fixed thereto.

The cogged wheel 41 is mounted upon the rear axle 39, it' having a ball ratchet or clutch arrangement indicated at 42 which is common to similaidevices and which prevents backward rotation of the shaft independent of the wheel 41 and acting in all respects like a pawl and ratchet. A rod 43 is rigidly fixed as' at 44 to the forward lower end of the'chassis leading backwardly towards the wheel 41 where it is provided with. a sprocket chain 45 passing around the cogged or sprocket wheel 41 and its opposite .end attached to the rod 46, similar to the rod 43. The opposite end of this rod is connected as at 47 to the lower end of the operating lever 36.

The front axle 558 pivotally supports the forward end of the chassis and is provided beyond the front wheels 48 with extensions 49 suitably shaped for foot rests for the operator and which may be adjusted back and vforth when the machlne 1s' in progress for steering same, only independently of the propulsion thereof.

ln this embodiment of the invention when the operator pulls baeluvardly upon the upper end of the lever 3G the rod 4G will be drawn forwardly rotating the sprocket wheel 4l baclmurdly free of any elect upon the shaft 39, except that the latter is drawn bodily forwardly a comparatively short distance which will of course rotate the hind wheels 40, it being understood that the child in performing such action has a tendency to lessen his weight upon the seat permitting of such action of the hind wheels in preference to that of rotating the forwzfird wheels backwardly, it being considered not necessary to equip either set oi wheels with ratchet equipment as ('lescribed in the pre viously related embodiment of the invention. Now as the child releases his pull upon the lever 36 it is apparent that any attempt of the wheels 4() to rotate bacliwardly will be retarded by the attempted forward rotation of the sprechet wheel 4l by the bull clutch 42 being brought into action, However the forward wheels being free to rotate forwardly will proceed to do so by the gravitating effect of the childs weight, the front axle 88 being moved, carrying with it the lixed end of the rod 43. This will result in a forward pull or stress upon said rod which will have a tendency to rotate forwardly the rear wheels 40, the front wheels 48 beingr made slightly larger in diameter than the rear wheels in order to provide easier rotation thereof than the smaller wheels.

As a modification of the propelling mechanism described in the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 4, attention is directed to that shown in Figure 3, wherein the sprocket or cogged wheel 4l is driven by a reciprocable rack 50 pivotally attached to the end of the operating lever 36 and by which device the shaft 39 carries the wheels 40 rigidly fixed thereto for rotating in. a forward direction advancing the rear axle by actual rotation rather than being drawn forwardly by the two previously described methods.

In Figure 6 I have illustratedl still another embodnnent of the invention wherein no steering device whatever is provided i' f the vehicle only being capable of traveling in a straight line, and instead of thehunlped parts of the chassis being pivotally united I have shown only the rearwardly projecting legis as being pivotally attached (il to the box like body portion 62 of the chassis. The rearwardly inclined legs Pfl of this embodiment of the invention cai` ries the forward axle 64 upon which the front wheels 65 are mounted, they being provided with the ratchet and pawl arrangement, similar to that shown in Figure l, for preventing backward rotation. as is also the rear wheels 6G. ln this embodiment the operating lever 67 is pivotally mounted as lll() ACn at 68 to the forward end of the platform 69 of the chassis and the lower end 70 of said lever is connected by means of the rod 7l to the rear axle 72 and the backward thrust of the legs 60 is controlled by suitable blocks 73 fixed to the rear corners of the body of the chassis.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A vehicle of the class described oomprising a wheeled forward axle and a wheeled rear aXle,an inclined frame structure mounted upon the forward aXle and carrying a seat and platform thereupon, a rearwardly and downwardly inclined portion of the fra-me structure carried by the rear axle and pivotally united tothe other inclined portion of the structure, a hand lever pivotally carried upon the forward end of the platform, means connecting the lower end of the lever with the rear axle whereby the manipulating of the lever will reciprocate the aXle, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A cliilds vehicle of the class described comprising` a hingedly united chassis, a pivotally mounted operating lever in the forward end of the chassis, wheels constantly supporting the forward end of the chassis and wheels supporting the rear end of thel chassis, and means connecting the lever with the rearmost wheels substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A vehicle comprising a humped chassis hingedly united intermediate of the ends thereo-f, means carried upon the forward end of the chassis for producing intermittent forward motion of the rear portion thereof manually, and cooperative means for producing alternate intermittent additional forward motion of said vehicle by the weight of the operators body.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN SWINLAND.

l/Vitnesses:

S. C. BRoNsoN, S. GEO. STEVENS. 

